The Victor -Pollux-

Chapter 5

The ride back is a few hours long. The lights are dim. In the corner, Cressida speaks with Messalla as they review the footage they obtained. Castor is two seats away from her. His arms are crossed as he stares at the floor. Pollux is in front of her, his foot tapping steadily against the floor. Katniss is asleep, her head on Gale's shoulder. He's sleeping as well, his head thrown backward. Boggs is near the front of the jet, speaking to the pilots.

Carson can't sleep, but she wants to. Her body is exhausted, but she can never sleep around strangers. She doesn't trust anyone. When a person sleeps, they are most vulnerable. That was a painful lesson she learned in the arena.

Her fingers fiddle with the pendant around her neck. Looking around, her eyes fall on Pollux. Earlier in the day, he saved her. Carson froze when the chimney collapsed. It wasn't clear why, but it didn't really matter. All that mattered was that Pollux ran back and pulled her out of the way. She notices the golden Mockingjay pin pinned on his jacket. "I like your pin."

The sound of her voice captures Pollux's attention. He glances at the pin. Then, he focuses his attention on her. Quickly, he grabs something out of his pocket. Carson watches him curiously. He writes something down before handing it to her.

She takes the notepad. Written in black ink is a single sentence. I like your necklace. Carson hands him back the notepad. 

"Thank you." She lets go of the necklace. "It was my fathers." Carson never told people that. Pollux doesn't write anything else down, but he does continue to stare. "Thanks for pulling me back," Carson whispers to Pollux after a moment. "You didn't have to do that, but you did, and I appreciate it." He saved her. He didn't have to, but he did.

He smiles and nods, "you're welcome." She nods back at him, a signal she understands. He assumes it's an easy thing to understand. "You have a beautiful voice. You should talk more."

"He said you have a pretty voice and that you should talk more," Castor translates for his brother. Carson understands but doesn't let them know. Instead, she smiles and looks away. It's the first time any of them have seen her smile. It doesn't last long, a few seconds at best. Castor glances at his brother, raising an eyebrow. All Pollux does is shrug, a faint smile on his face. Carson turns her attention towards the window. Watching as they soar through the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The return to District 13 isn't easy. A heavy silence follows them as they walk through the building. All of them remember the horrors they just faced in District 8. So many lives were lost. It isn't fair, but then again, life isn't fair.

Carson places her sword down on the table. She isn't allowed to keep it in her room. It must stay in the armory. That's all right with her. Cressida and Messalla are showing Plutarch and Coin the new footage. Coin was very pleased. It's much better than what they had before. The rest are free to leave, which they plan on doing. Katniss had already left. Gale followed closely behind her.

Carson leaves the group silently. The film crew seems to be close, possibly long-time friends. It's unclear how well they knew each other in the Capitol. Pollux and Castor stand in the doorway. They're involved in the conversation with the others, but their job is to record. Anything more is out of their range.

A few people are walking around, mainly men. Everyone is wearing grey beside her. She's still in the black uniform. There is dust covering it, causing it to seem more matted than it actually is. There's a heaviness in her footsteps. She's exhausted and emotionally drained. It seemed life would always be that way for her.

"Carson," a voice shouts. A few people look, including Castor and Pollux. Charlie sprints down the hallway, a smile on her face. All at once, Carson feels the negative emotions leave her.

"Hey." Charlie throws herself into her arms. "How are you?"

The young girl looks up, her blue eyes full of happiness. "Great. I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Hey," a new voice says.

Carson looked up to see Finnick. "Hey." The taller man approaches, Charlie moves out of the way. Carson freezes as he hugs her.

Finnick pats her back. "I heard," he whispers. "Are you okay?" He pulls away from her slowly. There is concern written all over his face.

It's a complicated question, and there is no answer. "I'm fine." But she isn't. They lost a lot of good, innocent people. Snow bombed a hospital full of wounded civilians. It was sick to think about. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do. That was clearer than ever. "How was everything here?"

"So boring," Charlie sighed. "I'm on my last book, and all they have are manuals here. Did you happen to find any while you were out?"

"No," Carson responded. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm glad you're back."

"Me too." She is happy to be back. "Come on. I'm exhausted." Together, the three walk down the hall towards their chambers. Charlie skips ahead of them.

"I overheard Plutarch and Coin," Finnick explains what he heard. "They said something about bombing and casualties. I was worried." Finnick only starts the conversation when he knows the young girl can't hear them.

"I'm fine," Carson responds. "Snow bombed the hospital. Killed everyone inside."

That shocks him. "Wow." That's all he can say. It's a lot to process.

"There were so many people in there, Finnick," she whispers. "You should have seen them. They were so hopeful when Katniss arrived. They wanted to fight. They wanted to help." It didn't matter how wounded they were. Everyone wanted to fight back. "Then he just killed them. They never had a chance." Finnick can't imagine what it was like to be there. He doesn't want to. Just hearing about it is painful. "Someone has to stop him." Someone had to stop Snow.

"I agree." And he does. Snow was out of control. "We'll get him, Carson. I know it." She wanted to believe him, but it wasn't that simple. President Snow was hiding in his mansion in the center of the Capitol. Reaching him would be near impossible. They didn't have all of the Districts supporting the rebellion, only a few. They needed to secure more supporters for their cause before they could attack.

"Yeah," she mutters. Charlie glances back at them. She's smiling. She's happy. That's all that matters to Carson. Her sister is safe, and she was going to make sure she stayed that way.

"Carson," Charlie suddenly spins around. "Did you know they have a garden here?"

"A garden?"

"Yes," she said. "The same corridor as the giant dining room they don't use." It seemed Charlie had done a lot of exploring. "They are studying birds there. Finnick and I found it yesterday. Beetee told us all about the birds."

"That's great," Carson said.

"Do you want to go see it?"

It didn't matter how tired Carson was. She never said no to Charlie. "I would love to."